


"Put in Something With Troll Will Smith in it, Will You?"

by Candy_Corn_Queenie



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Multi, Oneshot, Sadstuck, Violence, bro being a dick, but gets better at the end, dave finally gets to vent, dont worry, so basically canon, there's alot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 15:16:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16600412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candy_Corn_Queenie/pseuds/Candy_Corn_Queenie
Summary: the humans have birth marks, but trolls dont... Dave and Karkat's story pretty much





	"Put in Something With Troll Will Smith in it, Will You?"

When Dave first truly understood what it meant to have words etched into his arm, he was six, and strifing with Bro on the hot roof. He had just been forced to the gravel, and his head was turned in the direction of his arm.

_ ‘Put in something with Troll Will Smith in it, will you?’ _

All his life, he’d never understood the inscription.  _ Troll _ Will Smith? What even? But it obviously had something to do with movies. And it was probably later in life. Maybe even once he got married. He hoped. But… he’d always hated it. The last thing his soulmate would say to him, it would be simple and normal. They would probably expect nothing to happen, that they’d be seeing each other the next day. Dave always cried when he looked at his mark for too long. It hurt too much. He always made sure Bro wasn't home.

When your mark goes nul, fading to the color of a scar, it means your soulmate has died. Some people are devastated. Some go insane. Dave met a lady on the bus one time with a nul mark, one time. He asked her what it felt like. She smiled sadly at him, and described how every morning she woke up next to her husband, who also had a nul mark. He questioned more precisely then, asking how it had felt when the line first went dead. She looked very sad in that moment, and told him quietly. 

_ “It burned a little. I felt a pain on my left arm, and when I held it up, my soulmate’s words were fading… I didn't leave the house for a year.” _

She’d seen the near terrified look on Dave’s face and quickly recovered, saying he was young, and that the chances were few that he would never meet his soulmate.

For weeks, Dave had nightmares from someone else’s point of view. Waking up with words going blank.the words always the same. 

_ “Hey, the name’s Dave.” _

He woke up shaking every time.

On the roof, blade pressed to the side of his neck, only coming away to slash his arm in a lesson marking before he was thrown down the stairs for not trying hard enough, Dave understood what having a mark really was. Having words on your arm was a curse. A responsibility. Something horrible. You were expected to meet and connect with your soulmate, and if you didn't, you both got hurt, in the end.

  
  
  
  


Dave was thirteen when the game started, and he wondered why his mark hadn't faded. The earth was gone. So his soulmate must be too, right? Not one, not  _ one _ of his friends marks had faded. Jade’s ‘We may meet again sooner than you think’, Rose’s sweet ‘I have loved you from the beginning of time, and I will continue until the end of ever’, and lucky John’s double team of ‘you were great, John’ and you can't leave me, idiot’. Leading them to believe that it had to be one of them who corresponded to the other. 

That is, until they were continually trolled, by crazies on the internet, leading them to realize that they could still meet they’re missing link. They were so happy, that they forgot that those people can die too.

Dave knew from the lingo on his arm that one of the trolls must be his soulmate, and he automatically latched on to Terezi at the first show of affection. Rose was talking to Kanaya, which seemed to be going well. John and Vriska were the picture of alien relationships. But Jade, Jade was a different story.

Jade had been talking to Feferi after a weird dream when it happened. They were saying goodbye, preparing to log off, when Fef said those words.

**We may meet again sooner than you think. 38D**

Were shining on Jade’s screen. Not wanting to alarm the troll girl she had just learned to care for, Jade responded quickly, logging off not long after. Jade cried for what felt like forever, pulling on her sleeve so she couldn't see it, but it was there, just as it had always been. Eventually, perhaps a week later, it burned, and then it was pale, nothing but a memory.

They were all much more guarded after that.

  
  


When Terezi broke up with him and started spending more time with Spider-bitch, he started to turt to his ecto-sis Rose, but she was off doin lesbianing with Kanaya, so he was left with the mayor. Don't be mistaken though, the Mayor is fuckin awesome, the Mayor is the best guy ever. But, Dave couldn't stop himself from feeling lonely every once in a while.

Then, like a holy bottle of apple-juice pulled from the depths of the fridge, Karkat started to pop in on Dave and the Mayor, saying he was making rounds. Then he started spending more time reading in can-town, claiming it was too loud everywhere else. Finally, Karkat was caught adding a tower to can-town, and he was officially a bro.

  
  
  


Dave could tell he was falling, he had liked girls when he was little, after all, and he was even realizing he had had crushes on the boys in his classes too. But anyways, Dave couldn't stop himself from soaking up all of Karkat he could get. He would high-five him in the hall, make excuses to be closer, agree to any movie the troll wanted to watch, even tell as many ass-backwards jokes as possible, just to get Karkat to smile.

One time, Dave even tracked down Karkat’s hive during a dream bubble, overjoyed by the cherry red tears that slipped from the troll’s eyes when he heard the familiar clacking of pinchers and screech of an overprotective lusus.

They had a great time with Crab-Dad, even went back a few times, when they could. Dave thought that there couldn't be one negative to his actions. He had gotten to see Karkat happy, he’d had a good time, what could ruin that?

Then, Karkat tried to return the favor. Karkat shook Dave awake, his smiling making the dimples on his chubby face stand out more than ever.

“Wake up, Dave! I tracked down your hivestem, and I think your ‘Bro’ is home!”

Dave was up in an instant, grabbing the katana from under his bed when he saw a flash of orange and blue, not needing to read the note pinned to his door. Dave grabbed Karkat’s hand and pulled him up the stairs to the roof, ignoring the mutants protests along the way.

He pushed open the door and blocked a strike aimed at his chest, pushing aside his other senses in favor of focusing on the sudden danger, although still processing Karkat’s alarmed and worried curses.

Bro was nothing if not ruthless. Now, Dave not only had to defend himself, but Karkat too. Karkat, bless his naivety, hadn't brought his sickles, expecting to hear childhood stories and give Dave closer, not the borderline nightmare scene in front of him. Dave was cut in multiple places, and tears were starting at the crinkles of his eyes, his Bro having slung insults as he swung and slashed.

All the while, however, Dave yelled back at him, forcing his brother to hear that he knew that he was his dad, that he was supposed to take care of him, that what he had done wasn't right, that he was hurt, that he hated it, that he knew Bro had done his best, but why was his best still hurting him? Why hadn't Bro given him up? Why did he keep him? Why did he ‘train’ him? Why did he need training? 

“What did I do wrong!?” Dave yelled, throwing his sword down, pulling off his sunglasses, looking where he assumed his brothers were pleadingly.

Bro sank his sword to the ground, emotionless, speechless, a blank canvas. He started forward, almost as if he was moving to hug Dave, but the god knew better.

“No. you had your chance, you don't get to affect me anymore… I'm leaving.” and leave they did, the dream bubble fading and dissipating around them. Despite the place where his Bro had been now being occupied by nothing but a blank wall, Dave continued to stare.

Cautiously, then all at once, Karkat hugged Dave, pulling him down until they were on the ground. Karkat let him cry, then they patched him up. Dave may not be perfect, but he was Karkat’s friend.

While Karkat put on an action movie, one he knew Dave loved sincerely, Dave asked him if he could do something that could make or break everything. Karkat, not thinking it would really be that big of a deal, whatever it was, said yes nonchalantly.

Then, as he sat down, Dave pulled his face forward, and kissed him. It was messy, and was more on the side of his mouth then full on, but it was perfect. 

Karkat, having been a romance expert all his life, thought the kiss did, in fact, live up to its descriptions. Kisses themselves, are nothing special, it’s just body parts touching like hands or feet, but it felt like butterflies were dying and going god tier in his stomach, all because it was Dave. He, Karkat Vantas, was kissing Dave Strider. And it was great.

  
  
  


They were arriving in the new session tomorrow, everyone knew, and everyone was convinced that it was nothing special. Ok, that’s a total lie, but they could pretend.

Rose was with Kanaya, the scourge sisters were together, most likely trying to message John, as they had become known to do, both harboring some type of feelings for him or something, and Karkat and Dave were with the Mayor in Karkat’s room.

They had Karkat’s husktop out, all sitting in blankets, when the mayor scuttled out, hugging both of his dads before he went to bed.

The movie was over, and they knew the next one would be the last. Dave stood, prepared to put in some random rom-com for his boyfriend’s pleasure while he could when he heard it. It was small, just a mumble. But it shook Dave to the core. He felt a crack in his chest as each word fell from Karkat’s mouth.

“Put in something with Troll Will Smith in it, will you?”

Dave dropped the disc in his sylladex, his hands going instead to his face, trying to hide the ugly, loud, hard sobs forcing their way through him.

Karkat ran to him, pulling him close, although he didn't understand until Dave pulled up his sleeve, at which Karkat broke down as well. While trolls hadn't been born with words on their arms, the grey skinned aliens had learned what they meant during their time around the humans. They both knew one of them would die tomorrow, that much was clear.

Neither could speak, and maybe it was for the best. They fell asleep silently, pulled together by bonds stronger than the time that kept them apart, but when Dave woke up, Karkat was gone, a pillow in his place.

Dave panicked, rushing to the only one he knew to turn to, his sister, Rose. she, coincidentally, was also in tears, they both spoke of their partners being gone in the morning, and when the finally found their way to the others on the lily pad, they hadn't had any contact at all. Kanaya and Karkat had already gone to Echidna, Dave had to go with Dirk, and Rose with Roxy and John.

**TG:karkat**

**TG:please**

**TG:please be ok**

  
  
  


Dave ran through the crowd of gods and aliens, searching and searching. Then, he saw him. Karkat, laying in Kanaya’s lap, his neck slashed to hell and back. Jade colored tears could be spotted on his face, on his unofficial moirails too.

Dave was there before anyone knew, immediately telling Karkat why he couldn't leave, at least not now. Eventually it spiralled into Dave begging him to say something, anything, because if he spoke now, his mark would be wrong, and Karkat would live another day. But all the mutant could do was hold Dave’s hand.

Dave’s eyes clenched shut, his figure crouched down for what felt like too long, he shouldn’t be there, no one should be in that position. That was a position of grief, and they had won. They had won. So why, did it feel like he had lost everything, even with victory so close.

Karkat’s hand was turning cold, reminding Dave of just how warm it had always been when Dave felt the millions of timelines run through him where Karkats had died.

One Karkat had pushed his Dave out of the way of a blast from Lord English, another had died protecting his matesprite Nepeta. Another still had died in a strife with Crab-Dad, the crustation dying not long after after becoming too depressed to eat. Yet more, a Karkat died alone on the meteor when the fucking clown went psycho.

So many Karkat’s had died, even his.

  
  


A squeeze. A cough. Another. Karkat sat up.

“God damn! Life magic feels like shit when it brings you back!”

Dave looked up, tears still streaming down his face, and smiled bright and full. Karkat was attacked with kisses, and he wrapped his arms around Dave, content, before standing up and helping his boyfriend up as well before wiping the strange and  foreign clear tears from Dave’s eyes.

They stepped through the door together, holding hands.

  
  
  


Years later, holding hands and sitting together, Karkat whispered, quiet as he could, but still enough so Dave could hear, the one thing he needed to before  the two of them could go on together.

_ “Put in something with Troll Will Smith in it, will you?” _


End file.
